Hay crushing rolls with spiral grooves



Oct. 25, 1960 L. R. GRIFFITHS HAY CRUSHING ROLLS WITH SPIRAL GROOVESFiled May 6, 1958 fizz/6727, 011 24m; fi' PMQ- p United States Patent2,957,292 HAY CRUSHlNG ROLLS WITH SPIRAL GRQOVES Leland 'R. Grifiiths,Downers Grove, 111., assignor to International Harvester Company,Chicago, 113., a corporation of New Jersey Filed May 6, 1958, Ser. No.733,394 4 Claims. (Ci. 56-1) This invention relates to hay crushingmachines and more particularly to the construction of the crushingrolls.

A general object of the invention is to provide a novel crushing rollassembly for crushing hay in the field from a swath and discharging itinto a swath, the crushing roll assembly comprising a pair of pressinglyengaged rollers at least one of which is provided with a series ofspiral grooves to increase its aggressiveness and enhance itsflexibility and to redistribute the loading between the rollers in sucha way that only a small area of the rollers are in instant contact atany given time thereby obtaining a smooth and efficient operation.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a crushing rollerassembly including a pair of top and bottom crushing rollers each ofwhich has a series of spiral grooves and the lower roller beingsubstantially smaller than the upper roller and the grooves being soarranged as to make juncture contact at any given point on the rollersonce per revolution to thus enhance the ability of the rollers to liftthe material off the ground and force it with a biting action throughthe rollers, the biting action accruing due to the grooves in the upperand lower rollers joining frequently.

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent fromthe specification and the drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of one crushing roll assemblyincorporating the invention;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional View taken substantially on the line 22 ofFigure 1;

Figure 3 is an end view;

Figures 4 through 6 illustrate a further embodiment of the invention,Figure 4 being a front elevational view of a crushing roll assembly,Figure 5 being a cross-sectional view on line 55 of Figure 4, and Figure6 an end view.

Describing the invention there are shown a pair of upper and lowercrushing rolls 2 and 3 of a crushing roll assembly designated 4. It willbe noted that the upper roll is substantially larger in diameter thanthe smaller roll and that the upper roll comprises a centershaft 5 withmounting or bearing supported ends 6 and 7 inwardly of the ends therebeing provided the end caps 8 and 9 which are pinned to the shaft 5 andretain a body 10 of elastomer material such as a body of rubber orsynthetic rubberlike material. The body 10 is a resilient unit and iscrowned at 11 medially thereof, that is, it is of maximum diameter atthe center and is frusto-conical at opposite end portions 12 and 13 andalong its area of engagement 15 is brought into crushing engagement orcontact with the body 16 of the lower crushing roll 3. The area ofengagement is wide along the circumference so that the hay is held andkneaded intensively during its passage through the rolls.

The lower crushing roll is of a construction similar to that of theupper one in that the body 16 is of elastomer material which is rubberor rubberlike synthetic material and is mounted on a shaft 18 which hasbearing mounted end portions 20 and 21 inwardly of which there areprovided the end caps 22 and 23 which are pressed against the oppositeends 24 and 25 of the body 16.

It will be noted that the center portion 26 of the lower roll is crownedand is of maximum diameter at the center and at opposite end portions 27and 28 tapers toward opposite ends 24 and 25 of the roll and thus is offrustot conical conformation.

Another feature of the present invention is the provision of spiralgrooves 29 in the upper roll and a series of spiral grooves 30 on thelower roll. Thus each roll is segmented and in view of the difference inthe diameters of the upper and lower rolls it will be realized that thegrooves cross each other and at the grooving the material is apparentlymore flexible so that a kneading action obtains by the material flowinginto the grooves under the high pressures developed between the rollsand thus the crops which enter into the nip 32 are bent and bruisedalong their stems which is extremely beneficial in expressing the juicesso as to accelerate extraction of the moisture in order to permit thecrops such as hay to be quickly dried and available for baling inminimum time.

It will be noted from a consideration of Figure 1 that the purpose ofcrowning and aligning the crowning 11 and 26 of the upper and lowerrolls is to obtain substantially uniform pressure throughout the entirelongitudinal expanse of the rolls. In view of this feature the shaftswhich are of course steel and flexible bow outwardly away from eachother, however, the crown compensates for this outward bowing and thussubstantially uniform pressure is obtained throughout the entire lengthsof the rolls.

Referring now to the embodiment of the invention shown in Figures 4through 6 the same reference numerals apply for corresponding parts. Theonly difference between the two structures is that in the instantembodiment the rolls are made up of a series of disks 40, 40 and 41, 41respectively to the upper and lower rolls in all other respects theaction is substantially the same as in the previous embodiment exceptthat in the instant structure inasmuch as individual segments areprovided which are of a character of tire carcass material a slightlygreater conformation is obtained by the rolls to the actual crop volumeaccruing.

A further feature of the grooving of the rolls obtains in increasing theaggressiveness thereof in that the grooves simulate a toothed effect sothat the rolls have a tendency to pocket or dig into the crops intowhich the unit is being advanced.

What is claimed is:

1. In a hay conditioning device of the class described, upper and lowersubstantially cylindrical hay conditioning rolls, at least one rollhaving a body of elastomer material, said rolls being engaged with eachother under pressure deforming the body portions thereof to provide awide area of engagement with the hay and developing an intake forreceiving hay therebetween, at least said one roll having spiral groovesin the periphery of the body portion thereof, and the peripheries ofsaid rolls being substantially coincidental at their area of contact.

2. The invention according to claim 1 and further characterized in thatthe body of at least one roll comprises a plurality of fiber impregnateddiscs.

3. The invention according to claim 1 and further characterized in thatthe body of each roll comprises a plurality of fiber impregnated discs.

4. 'In a crushing device, the combination of a pair of hay conditioningrolls disposed in engaged relation, each roll being crowned, each rollhaving four substantially equally spaced spiral grooves, and each rollhaving a body of elastomer material and the peripheries of said rollsbeing substantially coincidental with their area of contact.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,191,144 Hornbostel Feb. 20, 1940 2,416,124 Siemen Feb. 8, 19472,464,974 Garvey Mar. 22, 1949 2,731,782 Mason Ian. 24, 1956 2,732,591Whittum Jan. 31, 1956

